Primary Particle Type of the Most Energetic Fly's Eye Air Shower

The longitudinal profile of the most energetic cosmic-ray air shower measured so far, the event recorded by the Fly's Eye detector with a reconstructed primary energy of about 320 EeV, is compared to simulated shower profiles. The calculations are performed with the CORSIKA code and include primary photons and different hadron primaries. For primary photons, preshower formation in the geomagnetic field is additionally treated in detail. For primary hadrons, the hadronic interaction models QGSJET01 and SIBYLL2.1 have been employed. The predicted longitudinal profiles are compared to the observation. A method for testing the hypothesis of a specific primary particle type against the measured profile is described which naturally takes shower fluctuations into account. The Fly's Eye event is compatible with any assumption of a hadron primary between proton and iron nuclei in both interaction models, although differences between QGSJET01 and SIBYLL2.1 in the predicted profiles of lighter nuclei exist. The primary photon profiles differ from the data on a level of ~1.5 sigma. Although not favoured by the observation, the primary photon hypothesis can not be rejected for this particular event.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures; v2 matches version accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Discrete Laplace Cycles of Period Four

We study discrete conjugate nets whose Laplace sequence is of period four. Corresponding points of opposite nets in this cyclic sequence have equal osculating planes in different net directions, that is, they correspond in an asymptotic transformation. We show that this implies that the connecting lines of corresponding points form a discrete W-congruence. We derive some properties of discrete Laplace cycles of period four and describe two explicit methods for their construction

Neutron clock as a friction-meter

Fast-fission reactions in collisions of four heavy systems (well below the fusion extra-push energy threshold), for which Hinde and coworkers had measured the prescission neutron multiplicities, have been analysed in terms of the deterministic dynamic model of Feldmeier coupled to a time-dependent statistical cascade calculation. In order to reproduce the measured prescission multiplicities and the observed (nearly symmetric) mass divisions, the energy dissipation must be dramatically changed with regard to the standard one-body dissipation: In the entrance channel, in the process of forming a composite system, the energy dissipation must be reduced to at least half of the one-body dissipation strength (k(s)(in) less than or equal to 0.5), and in the exit channel (from a mononucleus shape to scission) it must be increased to about 10 times that value (k(s)(out) approximate to 10)

Atmospheric Profiles at the Southern Pierre Auger Observatory and their Relevance to Air Shower Measurement

The dependence of atmospheric conditions on altitude and time have to be known at the site of an air shower experiment for accurate reconstruction of extensive air showers and their simulations. The height-profile of atmospheric depth is of particular interest as it enters directly into the reconstruction of longitudinal shower development and of the primary energy and mass of cosmic rays. For the southern part of the Auger Observatory, the atmosphere has been investigated in a number of campaigns with meteorological radio soundings and with continuous measurements of ground-based weather stations. Focussing on atmospheric depth and temperature profiles, temporal variations are described and monthly profiles are developed. Uncertainties of the monthly atmospheres that are currently applied in the Auger reconstruction are discussed.Comment: To be published in Proceedings of 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) 2005, Pune, Indi